"years to get the Viet Cong insurgency under control. The Geneva Agreement on Laos was signed by 14 countries, including China, the Soviet Union, and the United States. The agreement declared a cease fire between the Royal Lao government and the communist Pathet Lao guerrillas and aimed to maintain Laos as a neutral country with a coalition government. What resulted instead was a resumption of the civil war and a de facto partition of the country with the government controlling the western one-half of the country and the Pathet Lao the eastern one half. The Ho Chi Minh trail was"
"Ho Chi Minh trail The Hồ Chí Minh trail (also known in Vietnam as the ""Trường Sơn trail"") was a logistical system that ran from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) to the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) through the kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia. The system provided support, in the form of manpower and materiel, to the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (called the Viet Cong or ""VC"" by its opponents) and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), or North Vietnamese Army, during the Vietnam War. It was named by the Americans after North Vietnamese"
"descent into mass murder and auto-genocide. Unpublished government documents Published government documents Secondary sources Sihanouk Trail The Sihanouk Trail was a logistical supply system in Cambodia used by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and its Viet Cong (VC) guerillas during the Vietnam War (1960–1975). Between 1966 and 1970, this system operated in the same manner and served the same purposes as the much better known Ho Chi Minh Trail (the Truong Son Road to the North Vietnamese) which ran through the southeastern portion of the Kingdom of Laos. The name is of American derivation, since the North Vietnamese considered"
"southern panhandle of the territory of the Kingdom of Laos, the Ho Chi Minh Trail was the logistics backbone of the communist forces during the Second Indochina War, as it was the main supply route for Viet Cong and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) forces fighting in South Vietnam. At the southern end of the Ho Chi Trail was a dirt road, Route 110, and a surrounding network of logistical trails running into Cambodia that comprised the Sihanouk Trail. The Sihanouk Trail connected the Ho Chi Minh Trail with the deep water ocean port of Sihanoukville, the entry point for"
"and corduroyed in some areas), foot and bicycle paths, and truck parks. There were numerous supply bunkers, storage areas, barracks, hospitals, and command and control facilities, all concealed from aerial observation by an intricate system of natural and man-made camouflage that was constantly expanded and replaced. By 1973, trucks could drive the entire length of the trail without emerging from the canopy except to ford streams or cross them on crude bridges built beneath the water's surface. The weather in southeastern Laos came to play a large role both in the supply effort and in U.S./South Vietnamese efforts to interdict"
"as the Ho Chi Minh Trail (the Truong Son Road to the North Vietnamese), which ran from southwestern North Vietnam, through southeastern Laos, and into South Vietnam. The campaign then centered on the interdiction of that logistical system. Beginning during the same time frame (and expanding throughout the conflict) the operation became increasingly involved in providing close air support missions for Royal Lao Armed Forces, CIA-backed tribal mercenaries, and Thai Volunteer Defense Corps in a covert ground war in northern and northeastern Laos. ""Barrel Roll"" and the ""Secret Army"" attempted to stem an increasing tide of People's Army of Vietnam"
"or battalion sizes, units departed at two-day intervals, with most crossing into Laos along a system of thousands of tracks, roads and paths known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. NVA infiltration routes were keyed to the military regions the infiltrators were assigned to. PAVN units headed for the Tri-Thien region closest to the northern border might infiltrate directly across the DMZ. Those headed further beyond might travel through Laos. The Sihanouk Trail in Cambodia was opened in 1966 to enable PAVN to infiltrate and resupply COVSN in the southernmost zone of South Vietnam. The hardships of the Trail were"
"manpower) was then shuttled south down the logistical corridor called by the Americans the Ho Chi Minh Trail (the Truong Son Strategic Supply Route to the North Vietnamese). At the end of an arduous journey the men and supplies entered South Vietnam's border areas. Beginning in December 1964, however, the U.S. began a covert aerial interdiction campaign in Laos that would continue until the end of the conflict in 1973 (see Operation Barrel Roll, Operation Steel Tiger, Operation Tiger Hound, and Operation Commando Hunt). In December 1964, the Viet Cong launched coordinated attacks throughout Vietnam, including a Christmas Eve attack"
"in place during the anti-French struggle of the Viet Minh. Known to the North Vietnamese as the Truong Son Strategic Supply Route, the Central Committee of the Lao Dong Party ordered construction of routes for infiltration as early as 1959, under the 559 Transport Group. The Trail was a complex web of roads, tracks, bypasses, waterways, depots, and marshaling areas, some in total. It snaked through parts of North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. US policymakers made ground attack against Trail networks in these countries off limits, (until limited operations were permitted late in the War) and communist forces took full"
"in support of the air campaigns had, however, been conducted on the ground inside Laos to halt the flow of men and supplies on the trail. Since 1966, over 630,000 men, 100,000 tons of foodstuffs, 400,000 weapons, and 50,000 tons of ammunition had traveled through the maze of gravel and dirt roads, paths, and river transportation systems that crisscrossed southeastern Laos. The trail also linked up with a similar logistical system in neighboring Cambodia known as the Sihanouk Trail. However, following the overthrow of Prince Norodom Sihanouk in 1970, the pro-American Lon Nol regime had denied the use of the"
"... military supplies were sailed directly from North Vietnam on communist-flagged (especially of the Eastern bloc) ships to the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville, where that nation's neutrality guaranteed their delivery. The supplies were unloaded and then transferred to trucks which transported them to the frontier zones that served as PAVN/NLF Base Areas.[8] These Base Areas also served as sanctuaries for PAVN/NLF troops, who simply crossed the border from South Vietnam, rested, reinforced, and refitted for their next campaign in safety. Of the Sihanouk Trail and Cambodia, one American military history says: The continuity in the infiltration corridor through Cambodia and"
"positions as early as 1966, a deadly flak trap for US aircraft. By 1973, gun batteries had been supplemented with Soviet-supplied SAMs on various parts of the Trail. The Sihanouk Trail was the American name for the network of roads, waterways and paths cutting through Cambodia that supplied communist forces. This network was considered an integral part of the overall supply system incorporating Laos and North Vietnam and centered around the Cambodian port of Kompong Somor Sihanoukville. The unit tasked by Hanoi with organizing movement was the 470th Transport Group, which established a similar network on ""binh trams' and way-stations."
"of Vietnam (PAVN) strategy for conquering South Vietnam during the Second Indochina War. North Vietnamese victory depended on the logistic supply line of the Trail, which was located in the Kingdom of Laos. An ongoing air campaign by the United States seeking to destroy the Trail had little perceptible effect on the Communist resupply effort. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) backed a number of guerrilla intrusions onto the Trail in an attempt to cut supplies going into South Vietnam. The huge Operation Lam Son 719 attack of February 1971 proved insufficient to sever the supply conduit of the Trail. Nevertheless,"
"the supplies and reinforcements delivered by the Trail, which was located in the Kingdom of Laos. An ongoing air campaign by the United States striking the Trail had little perceptible effect on the Communist logistics effort. A series of Central Intelligence Agency-backed intrusions from Military Region 3 (MR 3) and Military Region 4 (MR 4) of Laos during 1969 and 1970 failed to interdict the Trail. The massive Operation Lam Son 719 assault staged in February 1971 failed to cut it. Nevertheless, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) backed Laotian guerrillas and Royal Lao Army (RLA) military irregulars made further attempts at"
"North Vietnam on newly passable routes, either down from Dien Bien Phu, across Phong Saly Province on all-weather highways, or on Route 7 through Ban Ban, Laos on the northeast corner of the Plain of Jars. The CIA's covert operation's clandestine army would give way, harrying the PAVN and Pathet Lao as they retreated; Raven FACs would direct massive air strikes against the communists by USAF jets and RLAF T-28s to prevent the capture of the Laotian capitals of Vientiane and Luang Prabang. When the rainy season six months later rendered North Vietnamese supply lines impassable, the Vietnamese communists would"
"to supply forces of both the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong guerrilla forces, both of which were operating in South Vietnam. Route 9 provided a quick way to move supplies east. The light Vietnamese trucks could also cross the Banghiang River at Xépôn which, although across was just deep most of the year, and then travel further south. This made Xépôn the chokepoint for almost all motorized traffic passing through Mu Gia Pass, the main Ho Chi Minh Trail entry point into Laos. Only Route 23, which led south from Mường Phìn, provided a good alternative."
"Trail was central to the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) strategy for the conquest of South Vietnam during the Second Indochina War. When a series of nine CIA-sponsored incursions from Military Region 3 (MR 3) and Military Region 4 (MR 4) of the southern panhandle of the Kingdom of Laos during 1969 and 1970 failed to interdict the Trail, the massive Operation Lam Son 719 was staged on 8 February 1971 to cut it. In the wake of this failure, CIA backed Laotian guerrillas and Royal Lao Government military irregulars made further attempts at severing the logistical lines of communication."
"Vietnam (PAVN), whose logistical system within Laos was known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail (the Truong Son Road to North Vietnam). By launching such a spoiling attack against PAVN's long-established logistical system, the American and South Vietnamese high commands hoped to resolve several pressing issues. A quick victory in Laos would bolster the morale and confidence of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), which was already high in the wake of the successful Cambodian Campaign of 1970. It would also serve as proof positive that South Vietnamese forces could defend their nation in the face of the"
"The failure of BV-33 to defend their outpost at Ban Houei Sane would have negative consequences only a few weeks later, when the PAVN would strike again at Lang Vei. During the First Indochina War the Viet Minh constructed a pathway in neighbouring Laos in order to transport vital military supplies to southern Vietnam. Over time that pathway, now known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, grew in importance as the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam sought to topple the rival government in the south, the Republic of Vietnam. In the late 1950s, the Ho Chi Minh Trail"
"Lima Site 85 Lima Site 85 (LS-85 alphanumeric code of the phonetic 1st letter used to conceal this covert operation) was a clandestine, military installation in the Royal Kingdom of Laos guarded by the Hmong ""Secret Army"", the Central Intelligence Agency, and the United States Air Force used for Vietnam War covert operations against communist targets in ostensibly neutral Laos under attack by the Vietnam People's Army. Initially created for a CIA command post to support a local stronghold, the site was expanded with a 1966 TACAN area excavated on the mountaintop where a 1967 command guidance radar was added"
"of 289 miles. They then rode 19 miles in an open top U.S. jeep to a village named Vịnh Mốc which had experienced extreme bombing during the Vietnam War as it was a landmark between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. During the war the local villagers built many tunnels to hide, and 17 babies were born beneath the ground between 1966 and 1972. They then visited the Khe Sanh base for further war history. They then reached Dongpanh in Laos and after some part travelled on a Lao Songthaew to Phnom Keng, and they caught a Lod Mei bus through"
"of Vietnam. As the Laotian Civil War flared from 1961 onward, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) carried out a paramilitary program designed to foster a guerrilla army to support the Royal Lao Government (RLG) in northern Laos. Paralleling that, the U.S. Department of Defense covertly supported the regular Royal Lao Army and other Lao armed forces through a sub rosa supply system, as the U.S. picked up the entire budget of the Kingdom of Laos. Meanwhile, the Annamese Cordillera in southern Laos became the haven for a logistics network, the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The communist war effort in South"
"People's Army (VPA or PAVN, but also known as the North Vietnamese Army or NVA) and the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam (Vietnamese NLF guerrilla fighters allied with the PAVN, known in the America as the Viet Cong, meaning 'Communists Traitor to Vietnam') against United States troops and the United States-backed by South Vietnamese Government ARVN (Republic of Vietnam soldiers). During the War, the North Vietnamese transported most of their supplies via the Ho Chi Minh Trail (known to the Vietnamese as the Truong Son Trail, after the Truong Son mountains), which ran through Laos and Cambodia. As"
"Unity (military operation) Unity was the code name for Thailand's covert supply of mercenary soldiers to the Kingdom of Laos during the Laotian Civil War. From 4 July 1964 until March 1973, battalions of Thai volunteers fought Communist insurgents on the Plain of Jars in Military Region 2. As the Hmong ""L'Armée Clandestine"" was sapped by ongoing casualties and a limited basis for replacements, Unity battalions replaced them. By December 1970, Unity battalions also began defensive operations against People's Army of Vietnam units pushing westward from the Ho Chi Minh trail in the southern Lao panhandle. By the time the"
"tri-border region of Laos/Cambodia/South Vietnam. The Trail, a labyrinth of paths, roads, river transportation systems and way-stations, was constantly being expanded and improved. It served as a logistical jugular vein, for both men and material, for the North Vietnamese war effort against South Vietnam. The second method was to transport supplies by sea. Estimates of this seaborne traffic ran as high as 70 percent. It was carried out due to the higher volume of material that could be transported by sea, as opposed to the overland route. After direct American intervention in 1965, the increased presence of U.S. naval vessels"
"every seven minutes. Parts of what became the trail had existed for centuries as primitive footpaths that facilitated trade. The area through which the system meandered was among the most challenging in Southeast Asia: a sparsely-populated region of rugged mountains (), triple-canopy jungle and dense primeval rainforests. During the First Indochina War the Việt Minh maintained north/south communication using this system of trails and paths. In 1959, Hanoi established the 559th Transportation Group under the command of Colonel (later General) Võ Bẩm to improve and maintain a transportation system to supply the NLF uprising against the South Vietnamese government. Originally,"
"PAVN/VC troops, who simply crossed the border from South Vietnam and then rested, reinforced, and refitted for their next campaign in safety. None of this could have been accomplished without the acquiescence of Sihanouk. During 1965 North Vietnamese forces had already begun construction of new supply routes to connect the segments of the Ho Chi Minh Trail that ran through southern Laos and into Cambodia. The following year, U.S. intelligence discovered that a new road (Route 110), coming up from Cambodia, was now linked to those in Laos. The discovery of Route 110 was the origin of the term ""Sihanouk"
"by dark. The crucial Ho Chi Minh Trail was central to the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) strategy for beating the Republic of Vietnam during the Second Indochina War. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam's victory depended on the Trail's supply line, located in the Kingdom of Laos. Ongoing air and ground campaigns sponsored by the United States seeking to sever the Trail had no lasting effect on Communist logistics efforts. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) instigated a number of guerrilla operations against the Trail. The enormous South Vietnamese attack of 18 February 1971 proved insufficient to sever the Trail. Despite"
"a guerrilla army to support the Royal Lao Government (RLG). Paralleling that, the U.S. Department of Defense covertly supported the Royal Lao Army and other Lao armed forces through a sub rosa supply system, as the U.S. picked up the entire budget of Laos. The Annamese Cordillera in southern Laos became the haven for a communist logistics network, the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The communist war effort in South Vietnam depended on that supply route. In Military Region 3 (MR 3) of Laos a tacit nonaggression pact existed between Royalists and Communists. The Royalist stronghold at Savannakhet could threaten the"
"two countries, though the North Vietnamese did send some supplies across the DMZ, their major infrastructure went around it. Group 559 developed road lines through Laos and Cambodia that fed into various areas of northern and western South Vietnam. This system of roads became known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail and was used under the supervision of Group 559 to infiltrate weapons, ammunition, and cadres into the South. Subordinate to the Rear Services General Directorate, the troop consisted of two transportation battalions. In 1960, Group 559 is upgraded to division-level, and established the 70th Regiment. In 1961, the 71st"
"of Laos infiltrated the Ho Chi Minh Trail from the west to install wiretaps on Vietnamese communist telephone lines as early as 1966. The North Vietnamese clamped down on that effort with daily patrols checking for tampering along their phone lines on the Trail. By 1971, with Vietnamization winding down American resources in the Vietnam War, the American need for intelligence was greater than ever. The CIA's counter was to target a phone line deep within North Vietnam. Aerial photography disclosed a possible site for a tap 24 kilometers southwest of Vinh. A complex of military phone lines had been"
"Operation Tiger Hound Operation Tiger Hound was a covert U.S. 2nd Air Division, later Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 aerial interdiction campaign conducted in southeastern Laos from 5 December 1965 till 11 November 1968, during the Vietnam War. The purpose of the operation was to interdict the flow of People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) supplies on the Ho Chi Minh Trail (the Truong Son Strategic Supply Route to the North Vietnamese) from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), through southeastern Laos, and into the northern provinces of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). The missions"
"military veterans working for a newly formed front company named Eastern Construction Company in Laos. On 15 May 1959, the People's Army of Vietnam established Group 559; this unit was charged with the logistics of moving the necessities of war from North Vietnam to the South. Its foremost feat was building and maintaining the Ho Chi Minh trail down the eastern spine of Laos. Eventually, this transportation network would power the Vietnamese communists to victory. It would have to survive a relentless air campaign comparable to any interdiction bombing in World War II. Also in May, the long-awaited integration of"